Veteran director Tsui Hark of China's Hong Kong said Saturday that 3-D films will be the mainstream of the film industry in the future if they are supported by market demand and research and development.

"There is no doubt that 3-D films are developing increasingly, and I personally think that they will become the mainstream of movies," Tsui Hark told reporters in a press conference held on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival.

The director attended Asia's largest and most prestigious film event, which kicked off on Oct. 6, to collect the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award.

He is currently working on "The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," the first-ever Chinese martial arts film to be presented in 3-D, and is due for release in China around December 20 this year.

"It will take time to see changes, but the important thing is that 3-D movies will continuously develop in accordance with market demand," said Tsui. "They will evolve constantly in concert with the growth of market demand and research and development efforts."

When asked about his thoughts on some skeptical views that making 3-D films may be just a temporary trend, Tsui was confident that 3-D will gradually replace 2-D on the back of the development of technology.

Tsui was optimistic about the future of 3-D films, especially in China's market.

"Of a total of 10,000 screens, about 4,000 present 3-D movies, and the share of 3-D films is growing at a fast rate," said Tsui.

He stressed what's critical at this point is to understand 3- D technology completely and exploit it to maintain the trend for the development of Asia's film industry.

"It is possible that documentaries, news, or sports could be made in 3-D in the future, which would make them more closely attached to daily lives of the people," said Tsui. "In the process, I'm willing to play a certain role as a director."